A Crystalized Memory
by Supersilver46
Summary: After Hermione's Time Tuner breaks, Hermione and Harry find themselves flung into a time long forgotten by the rest of the world. As they work to find a way to go back to their own time, they find themselves getting hounded by a clown that has taken a particular interest in Hermione...
1. Chapter 1

It was a usual day at Hogwarts. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting in their first DADA class with Professor Lupin. For their first class the Professor would teach them the _Riddikulus _spell. He'd brought in a boggart that was stuck inside a small closet. All they needed to do was stand behind the line the Professor had marked on the ground and cast the spell once the boggart came out. If they couldn't do that then the Professor would step in and offer them a piece of chocolate. For the next few minutes Harry watched the other students get up once their name was called and attempt to best the boggart. Some of the students failed while others passed with ease, eventually Professor Lupin called out Hermione's name.

Once Hermione got up, Harry couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. Lately Hermione hadn't been doing well in school, which was a first for her. One time she was supposed to cast a simple levitation charm on a feather in Charms for a quick review, but she somehow ended up causing every single one of the desks in the classroom to levitate. Her transfiguration skills were suffering as well, and he noticed that Hermione had begun to fall asleep during their History and Potion classes. He and Ron had tried asking her if anything was wrong, but she'd usually smile and claim that everything was fine.

Hermione stood behind the line and took a deep breath as Professor Lupin opened the door, letting the boggart out.

"Well this is new."

Harry saw Hermione's eyes grow wide as she stared at the boggart that had transformed into a man in garish garb. The way the man's face was painted and the wide smile on his face reminded Harry of a clown or a jester. The boggart curiously looked around the room, staring at Lupin and everyone else in the room. Eventually his gaze landed on Hermione, causing her to flinch.

"I didn't expect to see _you_ here." the man said. "Though you look a bit different...did you dye your hair?"

The man took a step forward, causing Hermione to take a step back in fright.

"No that's not quite it, is it?" the man asked, "You're her, but you aren't her at the same time... interesting."

The man then let out a loud laugh that sent shivers down Harry's spine. Hermione took another step back and accidentally tripped over her own feet and fell to the ground.

"_Riddikulus!_"

The boggart was slammed back into the closet once it was hit by the spell. Professor Lupin lowered his wand and helped Hermione up to her feet.

"Are you alright Ms. Granger?" Professor Lupin asked.

Hermione nodded, and Professor Lupin handed her a piece of chocolate. Everyone's eyes were on Hermione as she slowly made her way back to her seat next to Harry. Professor Lupin then called for the next person to come up as Hermione rested her head against the desk.

'_Hermione...' _Harry thought as he stared at his friend, _'What happened to you?'_

.

.

.

"Well that was...something else." Harry said as he, Ron, and Hermione left Professor Lupin's classroom. Hermione was trailing behind Harry and Ron; her gaze was firmly focused on the ground as they made their way back to the classroom.

Ron nodded in agreement. "I wasn't expecting that at all."

The two of them turned to look at Hermione, who was barely paying any attention to them.

"She looks out of sorts." Ron said. "I don't think we can ask her who that guy was until we get to the common room."

"First she needs to get enough sleep, we'll ask her who he was after she's rested." Harry said. "We don't want to overwhelm her."

"That makes sense." Ron said as he shot another worried look at Hermione. He turned around and let out a loud groan. Harry looked away from Hermione to see that Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle were heading straight towards them. There was a vicious smirk on Draco's face, which caused Harry to clench his fist in anger.

"Here comes Malfoy." Ron grumbled. "I've got a good guess as to why he's coming this way..."

Draco sauntered past Harry and Ron and cleared his throat. "So, you're scared of clowns Granger?"

"Leave me alone Malfoy." Hermione said. "I don't want to deal with you right now, I don't feel well."

"' Leave me alone Malfoy I don't want to deal with you right now, I don't feel well.'" Draco mocked. "That's a shame, I certainly want to deal with you Granger."

"Knock it off Malfoy." Harry said as he roughly grabbed Malfoy's shoulder. "You heard her; she isn't feeling well, so leave her alone."

"I don't have to do anything you tell me, Potter." Malfoy said as he jerked away from Harry. "I can do what I want, and there's nothing you can do about it."

"Do you want to bet on that?" Harry asked as he drew his wand. Ron did the same thing and the two of them glared at Draco. Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle drew their own wands as well and the five of them found themselves in a tense standoff. The students around them began to gather as they realized that a fight was going to break out. Harry was prepared to fire a spell at Draco when suddenly-

"Just stop." Hermione said. "Fighting him isn't worth it, let's just go back to the common room."

"But...Hermione, Draco isn't going to let this go!" Ron shouted, "He'll keep bringing up the clown just to embarrass you!"

"I don't care Ron." Hermione said, "He's an insecure brat, you don't need to waste your time with him."

"W-what was that!?" Draco growled, "Where the hell do you get off on talking to me like that!?"

Hermione turned to leave, but Draco grabbed onto her shoulder. What followed was something that Harry didn't expect. Hermione shoved Draco away from her, and a gust of wind slammed into Draco's chest, sending him soaring through the air. He slammed against the wall and fell to the ground. The other students who had been gathered around them stopped talking and stared at Hermione with wide eyes. Hermione looked down at her hands, then back to the crumpled form of Draco. She whirled around and pushed through the crowd of people as she ran away.

"I'll go after Hermione, Ron!" Harry shouted, "You should make sure that Malfoy's alright!"

Ron started to say something, but Harry ignored him and rushed after Hermione...

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Hermione had already gotten a head start, which made it difficult for Harry to keep up. But given the specific paths Hermione was taking, Harry was sure that she was heading for the Library.

"Hermione?" Harry asked. "Are you in here?"

A small sniffle was his only response. Harry stepped into the library and gently closed the library door, after that he searched for Hermione. He didn't have to search for long, she was tucked into a small corner of the library that was close to the bookshelf.

"Hey Harry." Hermione said as she rubbed her eyes. "Is Draco alright?"

"I don't know." Harry said as he sat next to Hermione. "I didn't get the chance to check on him, Ron's doing that."

"Oh." Hermione said.

The two of them sat in silence for a moment before Harry decided to ask the question that had been burning in his mind.

"Hermione, what's going on with you?" Harry asked.

Hermione sighed and hugged her knees to her chest. "To be honest, I don't really know."

"It all started a few months ago, I started having these strange dreams about people and places I've never seen before." Hermione said.

"Was the clown one of those people?" Harry asked.

Hermione nodded. "I don't know what his name is, but whenever I see him I just...feel like I want to run away."

"Anyway, after I started getting my dreams my magic hasn't been working right." Hermione said, "I'm sure that you noticed that during the past few weeks."

"Well, did you think about asking Madame Pomfrey for help?" Harry asked.

"I-I'm not-"

"Look Hermione, you can't keep everything to yourself." Harry said as he stood up, "I'm sure that everything will be fine if you ask for help, maybe she can figure out what's going on with your dreams."

"You have a point." Hermione said as she got up from the floor, "Maybe I-"

Suddenly, Harry heard what sounded like broken glass once Hermione got up, which caused her face to pale.

"What was that?" Harry asked.

Hermione reached into her pocket and pulled out looked like a charm. Before he could ask her what it was, she dropped it onto the ground, which caused a blue portal to appear.

"Harry!" Hermione screamed as she was sucked into the portal.

Throwing caution to the wind, Harry leapt into the portal so he could save Hermione. Once he entered, the portal shut with a _snap _and the library fell silent once more...


	2. Chapter 2

On a calm, dark night snowflakes gently fluttered through the air before they added to the blanket of snow that was covering the ground. The tranquility of the night was disrupted when a portal suddenly opened above the snow-covered ground, and two children fell out of it. As soon as they hit the ground, the portal closed shut with a _snap _and the night was tranquil once more.

"Ngh..." Harry groaned as he opened his eyes. A chill wind picked up, causing Harry to shiver as he got up to his feet. That was when Harry noticed that he wasn't in Hogwarts anymore, it seemed as though he'd gotten teleported outside. Harry wasn't sure if he was close to the castle, it was too dark for him to see very far.

'_Where am I?'_ Harry thought to himself. _'I don't see anything that I recognize...'_

The snow stretched out as far as Harry could see, aside from a few dead trees there wasn't anything else of note.

"Ugh..." Harry heard someone groan. His eyes widened when he noticed Hermione lying face down on the snow.

"Hermione, are you okay!?" Harry shouted as he rushed over to his friend. He turned her over and tried to wake her up by shaking her shoulders. Hermione's chest rose and fell as Harry checked to see if she still had a pulse. He pressed two of his fingers against her neck and sensed for a pulse. It was faint, but Harry could feel her pulse.

'_So why isn't she waking up?'_ Harry thought to himself. He pressed the back of his hand against her forehead and recoiled. _'She's burning up! It looks like she's gotten a fever.'_

Harry realized the danger of the situation that the two of them were in right now. They were far away from the castle and stuck out in the middle of nowhere. Hermione had a fever, and if the two of them stayed out in the cold any longer there was a big chance that they could either get hypothermia or frostbite. They needed to get somewhere warm, and fast! There problem was that...

'_I don't know where we are.' _Harry thought to himself. _'I don't know if there's a city close by, if I just pick a direction and start walking, I could end up getting us lost.'_

As Harry thought about what he should do, he heard what sounded like the clanking of machinery coming from behind him. Harry turned around to see three machines that looked like they belonged in a sci-fi movie. The machines had a draconic appearance, they had long thick claws that seemed like they could cut through rock like butter and sharp 'feet'. The machines were coated in thick, black plating, and once the machines drew closer Harry spotted people controlling the machines. There were two men who were wearing thick helmets and tan military uniforms, and a woman with blond hair who had what looked like a crown on top of her head.

"Hey!" Harry shouted as he tried to get their attention. "Can you help us!? My friend is sick I-"

The people controlling their machines simply walked past Harry and Hermione, as if they didn't notice how he was shouting for help.

"Hey!" Harry shouted. "Come back! We need your help!"

Harry grit his teeth as the people got further and further away from him and Hermione. It was obvious that they were choosing to ignore his shouts. They seemed like they were going somewhere, Harry didn't know where they were going but he figured that following them would be a better use of his time than shouting or stumbling blindly through the snow. Harry knelt and scooped Hermione up from the snow. Holding her tightly in his arms, Harry began to follow the people in the strange machines.

'_Maybe they're heading to a city.' _Harry thought as he trudged through the thick snow. _'Or maybe they're military and they're heading back to their base.'_

Either option would be preferable. If they were going back to their base Harry could just explain that he and Hermione were lost and maybe they'd help the two of them. If they were going to a city then Harry could find somewhere for him and Hermione to stay for the night. And so, for what seemed like an hour Harry followed the people in the machines. His feet were throbbing, and the chill wind was sapping away at his strength. Harry's eyes widened as he saw bright lights shining from a nearby city, which caused him to feel relieved.

'_So they were heading to a city.' _Harry thought to himself. '_It looks like following them was a good idea after all...' _

Once they reached the gates of the city, Harry's legs felt as though they were about to give out underneath him. The people in the machines marched into the city and Harry followed right after them. There weren't that many people out at this time of night, though Harry could see that the lights in some of the buildings were on.

Suddenly, men holding weapons like swords, axes, and hammers surrounded the people in the machines.

"Imperial Magitek armor!?" One of the men shouted. "Not even Narshe is safe anymore!"

One of the men in the Magitek armor sighed and turned to the other man. "Let's just deal with the riffraff and head for the mines Biggs, we can't waste time messing around with these fools."

"Do you really think we'll let you get into the mines!?" another man shouted. "You'll die before you get there, Imperial scum!"

The man rushed towards the group in the Magitek armor. He leapt into the air and rose his sword into the air as he bore down on Biggs. "Di-"

Biggs thrust the his Magitek's claw into the man's chest, causing blood to spray onto the armor. The man impaled on Biggs's claw feebly tried to pry himself off before the blood loss took its toll and the man stopped moving. Biggs shook the man off the claw, the man's body fell to the ground in a heap, which enraged the other men.

"Y-you killed him!" A man shouted. "You'll pay for that!"

Biggs smirked and looked at the man in the other Magitek armor. "They always say that don't they, Wedge?"

Wedge was busy pressing something into his armor, so he didn't reply to the other man's question. There was a sudden flash of light, and a red beam shot out of the Magitek armor's chest. The remaining men didn't even have time to scream as they were burned alive. Even though Harry was far behind Wedge, he could still feel the heat from the beam the man had fired out of his Magitek armor. Eventually the beam died down, and there was nothing left of the men but ashes.

"I thought I told you not to mess around." Wedge said. "You should've just vaporized the guy before he even had a chance to attack you."

Biggs shrugged. "I wanted to have a bit of fun with him before he died."

Wedge sighed. "We're not here to have fun, we're here to get the job done and then get out."

"Killjoy..." Biggs muttered under his breath.

"Girl, you take point." Wedge said to the blond woman, who wordlessly moved in front of Biggs and Wedge. "Let's move out!"

Harry waited until the three were far away before he let out the breath he had been holding. That was terrifying, the way those people ruthlessly killed the men sent shivers down his spine.

"Well now, what do we have here?"

Harry stiffened and turned around to see that an old man was standing right behind him.

"It seems as though you children need some help." the old man said. "If you follow me to my home, I can help your friend."

Harry didn't say a word. He slipped his hand into his pocket and grabbed his wand.

"I'm not trying to trick you." The old man said. "I used to work as a doctor, I have medicine at home that can help your friend."

Harry looked down at Hermione and then back to the old man.

"...fine, I'll go with you." Harry said. "But don't even think about trying anything funny."

"I won't I promise." the old man said. "Though I fear that this may be a bit too late, I'd like to welcome the both of you to Narshe."


	3. Chapter 3

Harry found himself sitting at a table that was in the old man's home. The old man's home wasn't small, but it wasn't large either. There was a fire place directly across from the table, the fire crackled as its flames licked the top of the fire place. The old man had brought Hermione into his bedroom so he could take care of her. Harry sighed and thought back to what had happened an hour ago. He still couldn't get the image of the soldiers massacring the men who had tried to protect Narshe out of his head.

'_What have we gotten ourselves into?' _Harry thought. Suddenly, the door to the old man's bedroom opened and the old man walked out of his room before he gently closed the door behind him.

"Is Hermione going to be okay?" Harry asked.

The old man nodded. "Luckily she didn't have too high of a fever, all she needs now is a bit of rest and she'll be good as new."

Harry sighed in relief. So far there was one worry off his mind, now that Hermione was going to be alright, he felt like he could rest a bit easier. The old man went into his kitchen and came back out with two steaming mugs. The old man handed one of the mugs to Harry, who looked at it with apprehension.

"What's in it?" Harry asked.

"It's tea." The old man said. "You should drink it; it'll help you get warmed up."

Harry took the mug the old man offered him and took a sip, there didn't seem to be anything to be wrong with it, so Harry assumed that the tea was safe.

Harry put the mug down on the table and looked at the old man. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." the old man said. "There's something I wanted to ask you."

"What is it?" Harry asked.

The old man took a sip of tea and put the mug back on the table. "I've never seen you two around these parts before. You two weren't dressed for the weather, you don't seem to be from Figaro Castle, and you clearly aren't soldiers of the Empire."

"The two of you are foreigners, that much is obvious." the old man said. "Where are you from?"

"We were at Hogwarts." Harry said. Upon seeing the old man's confused stare, Harry continued. "It's a school in Scotland, and-"

"Scotland?" the old man asked. "I've never heard of a land called 'Scotland'."

Harry blinked. "How have you never heard of Scotland?" he asked. "It's part of Great Britain."

The old man stared at Harry blankly, and Harry decided to explain a bit further. "You know Great Britain? It's located in Europe. You know what Europe is, right? It's one of the seven continents on Earth?"

No matter what Harry tried, nothing that he said seemed to jog anything in the old man's mind. In fact, Harry's explanation seemed to only confuse the old man further.

"Hang on, I'll be right back." the old man said. He got up from the table and went into his bedroom before he quickly came back out with a rolled piece of parchment in his hand. The old man put the piece of parchment onto the table and rolled it out, revealing that it was a map. Harry looked at the map and saw that there was a large landmass on the northern portion of the map that had thick, mountainous regions, wide grassy plains, a desert near the southern tip of the landmass. Directly south from the landmass was a smaller landmass that wasn't quite as mountainous as the northern landmass, it had a few grassy plains and a small desert.

The old man pointed a spot tucked underneath a northern mountain range. "This is Narshe, that's where we are right now."

The old man turned to look at Harry, who was intently staring at the map.

'_I don't understand, this map doesn't look familiar at all!' _Harry thought to himself. _'Is it possible that we've been transported to another world!?'_

_._

_._

_._

Hermione found herself piloting a strange machine that had a draconic appearance into a mine alongside two other men that were dressed in military attire. Hermione found the scene strange; her mind was in a haze and she felt like she was in a dream. Or maybe she was wide awake? It was hard for her to tell at this point. Everything felt so real...

"Hey, why are you dozing off!?" the man to Hermione's right shouted. "Now's not the time for you to be staring off into space!"

"Do you think that the Slave Crown is weakening Biggs?" the man to Hermione's left asked. "I thought that it was supposed to keep her under control for longer than this..."

Biggs shook his head. "I don't think so Wedge, she still seems to be under the Crown's effects."

Wedge frowned. "Are you sure Biggs?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Biggs said. "If I'm wrong, we'll take her back to the empire after we've finished our mission and tell the scientists to make the crown stronger, it's as simple as that."

"I guess you have a point." Wedge said. "I'm just worried that something will go wrong..."

Biggs rolled his eyes. "You're always worried. Anyway, let's move out!"

Hermione, Biggs, and Wedge proceed deeper into the dark, damp mine. Eventually they reached a barricade, which Biggs smashed through with ease. On the other side of the barricade were a few guards and what looked like a giant snail monster.

"We won't hand over the Esper!" one of the guards shouted. "Ymir! Get them!"

The snail monster shrieked and slithered towards Hermione, Biggs, and Wedge.

"Really, do you think a snail is going to stop us!?" Wedge shouted. "Stand back you two, I think I can handle this on my own!"

"Hold it!" Biggs shouted. "Think back to our briefing..."

Wedge frowned. "What about it!?"

"Do you recall about hearing about the monster that eats lightning..." Biggs trailed off.

Wedge's eyes widened. "...And stores the energy in its shell!"

Biggs nodded. "Right. So whatever you do, don't attack the shell!"

Ymir rose its head high into the air and attempted to slam it down on top of Hermione and the others. Hermione manage to dash out of the way at the last moment, and the monster's head crashed into the ground which sent shards of rock flying into the air. A shard of rock cut Hermione's right cheek, causing a tiny amount of blood to drip from her wound.

The front of Biggs's machine opened, and a ball of fire began to form. "Take this!" Biggs shouted as the ball exploded outwards into a beam that struck the monster in the face. Ymir squealed in pain as its face was burned, it pulled its head back into its shell when it saw Wedge rushing towards it. Once Wedge was past Hermione, she grabbed the arm of his machine and held him in place.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing!?" Wedge shouted. "Let me go! I'm going to finish it off!"

"Idiot! Did you already forget what we talked about!?" Biggs shouted. "If you had hit it then you would've been struck down by its lightning attack!"

"Oh, that's right..." Wedge trailed off.

"Listen, once the monster pops its head out, grab it and then the girl will finish it off with missiles." Biggs said. "We don't have time to waste, so don't let it stick its head back into its shell."

Wedge nodded, and the three of them waited until Ymir stuck its head out. Wedge immediately stuck the claws of his machine into Ymir's flesh, causing the monster to shriek as it attempted to escape from Wedge's grasp. Wedge firmly planted the machine's feet against the ground in order to stop himself from letting go of Ymir.

"Hey girl, what are you waiting for!?" Wedge shouted. "Fire the missiles!"

Hermione's body moved on its own accord and pressed a red button that was on top of the control stick for the machine, which caused missiles to fire out from an opening on the front of the machine. The missiles streaked through the air as they crashed into Ymir, which triggered a large explosion that vaporized the monster. The guards who had been watching the battle unfold fled out of the mines as Hermione's group approached what they had been guarding. A strange creature was encased in ice, and even though Hermione knew that she had never seen this creature before she felt an odd connection with it. White light began to illuminate the cave, engulfing Hermione and the others.

"Hey! What's the matter? Do you know something we don't?" Wedge asked as the light grew brighter, "W-where's that light coming from!?"

Wedge let out a loud scream as he was vaporized, and Biggs was vaporized soon after his friend. The light grew even brighter, to the point where it was blinding. And then-

.

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The light faded once Hermione opened her eyes. She found herself lying in bed in an uncomfortable room. Harry was sitting right next to her, and his eyes widened when he noticed Hermione was awake.

"I'm glad that you're awake." Harry said. "Hermione, there's something you need to know."

"What is it?" Hermione asked.

"I don't think we're on our own Earth anymore..."


End file.
